Northallerton 24 Rotherham Phoenix 5

NORTHALLERTON hosted Rotherham Phoenix at Brompton Lodge last Saturday and, with the visitors struggling for form this season, confidence was high among the home squad.

Having learned from the previous week's mistakes, North started the game with the same tactic that had put Wetherby to the sword for 55 minutes – kick to the corner and set up the fearsome driving maul.

The policy paid dividends after five minutes as the forwards secured possession from a line-out and mauled to within five metres of the line. Jeremy Deas broke from the back of the maul and charged over in the right corner for the opening score of the game.

Jedd Bainbridge took on the tricky conversion and sent the ball over via the upright to make the score 7-0.

The next 20 minutes were tight, with the visitors coming more into the game, but Northallerton keeping them at bay with some resolute defending.

This was typified when Rotherham's fleet-footed stand off ran square into the formidable duo of Northallerton props Dixon and Osleton, and came off a predictable second best.

In the 36th minute, Deas was at it again with almost a carbon copy of his first score, but this time Bainbridge couldn't convert and half-time came with Northallerton 12-0 ahead.

The second half started with something unheard of as Northallerton conceded a try to a Rotherham driving maul from a line-out.

This prompted the introduction of Dennison. Moments after taking to the field, he noticed that Rotherham's second row had some mud on his face and kindly tried to wipe it off. Osleton tried to lend a hand and the referee decided he should be allowed a 10-minute rest for his troubles.

The game went a bit stagnant after the sin-bin incident until the 73rd minute, when the Rotherham scrum half passed the ball straight off the back of the pitch to give North a five-metre scrum which they drove over the line for Sam Hinton to touch down. Bainbridge added the extras to make it 19-5.

In the last minute, North drove another maul over the line for the bonus point try to make the final score 24-5.